About the Office of Teaching Evaluation and Assessment Research

Mission Statement

As a reporting unit within University Academic Affairs, the Office of Teaching Evaluation and Assessment Research (OTEAR) supports teaching evaluation, assessment, and program review. OTEAR also engages in research to enhance evidence-based decision-making across the university. Our work is driven by collaborations with partners across the institution, best practices around assessment, and continuous improvement. 

Goals

1. Increasing collaboration across the university in areas of teaching evaluation and assessment.
2. Providing accurate, actionable data and analyses to respond to research requests by school, department, CLU, and university-wide to enhance evidence-based decision-making.
3. Enhance evidence-based decision-making by providing training and support for users of student feedback and assessment systems.
4. Collect, analyze, and share student feedback.
5. Review and coordinate the annual assessment cycle and new program reviews. Increasing collaboration across the university in areas of teaching evaluation and assessment.

What We Do

• The office collects and shares student feedback on instruction (Student Instructional Rating Survey) to inform the academic appointment and promotion process. 
• OTEAR provides workshops, training, and support on student feedback, teaching portfolios, and peer review of teaching in support of the holistic evaluation of teaching. 
• OTEAR provides workshops and training to support assessment for continuous improvement.
• The office administers the HelioCampus platform, which maintains our assessment program review and Middle States accreditation evidence inventory.